Escape velocity
May 8, 2010 11:08 AM Subscribe
Following Steve Eley stepping down as editor of Escape Pod, the first and probably most popular science fiction podcast magazine, Mur Laffety has taken up the reins. Probably best known for I Should Be Writing, a podcast for wanna-be fiction writers, Mur also currently hosts Tor.com's fiction podcast.
I'm...uh...a little fuzzy on what the role of an editor of a podcast like this is. Like: does Escape Pod's editor actually cut the show for broadcast, adjusting levels and adding music and etc.? Or does the editor select the stories that will be read, assign them readers, etc.? Is it all of the above?
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:33 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by kittens for breakfast at 1:33 PM on May 8, 2010
Glad to hear that Escape Pod will continue, I still have to catch up with most of the old episodes.
posted by ts;dr at 4:14 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by ts;dr at 4:14 PM on May 8, 2010
Kittens, it's pretty much all of the above, although various tasks can be assigned to other people if the editor wishes.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:46 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 4:46 PM on May 8, 2010
Tasks like reading the slush, the editorial equivalent of mucking out the stable somehow combined with the experience of eating lima beans, leavened with a diffuse, ineffable sadness...
posted by Scattercat at 8:20 PM on May 8, 2010
posted by Scattercat at 8:20 PM on May 8, 2010
I had to quit listening to escape pod after 2 or 3 monologues by Eley where he went on and on about his personal life and all his problems bla bla bla. Seriously I dont care... thanks for the stories though!
I think Eley probably did a lot of work on the show, probably picked stories, made sure they were read and recorded right (he read a lot of them himself.)
Murr did the equivalent horror podcast (pseudopod?) for a while. Hopefully she keeps the content coming.
posted by outsider at 10:40 PM on May 8, 2010
I think Eley probably did a lot of work on the show, probably picked stories, made sure they were read and recorded right (he read a lot of them himself.)
Murr did the equivalent horror podcast (pseudopod?) for a while. Hopefully she keeps the content coming.
posted by outsider at 10:40 PM on May 8, 2010
One of the hardest things about finding new podcasts is catching up with the "best" ones so far a la This American Life's "Favorites" section. I've been hoping in vain for a similar feature for EP.
At least the podcast isn't dead.
posted by cuetip at 11:14 PM on May 8, 2010
At least the podcast isn't dead.
posted by cuetip at 11:14 PM on May 8, 2010
I read somewhere that Escape Pod has volunteers to help handle the slush.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:49 AM on May 9, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:49 AM on May 9, 2010
If you think Escape Pod is bad for self indulgent chatter you really should try StarShipSofa sometime.
posted by Artw at 6:21 AM on May 9, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 6:21 AM on May 9, 2010 [2 favorites]
So are there any other good SF podcasts y'all know of? Escape Pod is the only one I listen to right now, and it's been off the air for a long time now. I've tried to listen to StarShipSofa, but I couldn't stand it for the reason ArtW posted.
posted by Thoughtcrime at 10:08 AM on May 9, 2010
posted by Thoughtcrime at 10:08 AM on May 9, 2010
TBH I don't mind Tony's chatter too much, Its pretty amiable and about the only time I hear a Geordie accent these days, but sometimes I do just sort of tune it out. And some of the "articles" can be of variable quality. Great stories though.
posted by Artw at 10:33 AM on May 9, 2010
posted by Artw at 10:33 AM on May 9, 2010
Yeah, a while back I cracked after one too many stories about his dogs and stopped being a regular listener of SSS... only download when I'm really interested in the main story.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:46 PM on May 9, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:46 PM on May 9, 2010
If you think Escape Pod is bad for self indulgent chatter you really should try StarShipSofa sometime.
And the worst part is, you can't even tell what he's talking about 75% of the time.
I followed Escape Pod for a while, but I was churning through the back catalog and overdosed.
posted by DU at 5:35 AM on May 10, 2010
And the worst part is, you can't even tell what he's talking about 75% of the time.
I followed Escape Pod for a while, but I was churning through the back catalog and overdosed.
posted by DU at 5:35 AM on May 10, 2010
And the worst part is, you can't even tell what he's talking about 75% of the time.
Haddaway and shite, mon!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:21 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Haddaway and shite, mon!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:21 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Oh come on. I've got a tin ear and I could understand him fine after a few listens.
Plus, he's just so damn cheerful. How could you hate?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:57 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Plus, he's just so damn cheerful. How could you hate?
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 7:57 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Agreed, you simply can't hate SSS. Plus, it's now Hugo-nominated. Tony hasn't told a dog story in quite some time, and he's trying some interesting things, such as interviewing a bunch of authors using the same list of (listener-suggested) questions. He does a great job mixing up the story type week by week, and he has some excellent narrators. That said, I do wish he'd discover the magic of inserting chapter points into a podcast, thus enabling the forward button for those who want to skip to the best bits.
As for other podcasts, I am warming to the Drabblecast, despite Norm Sherman's wittier-than-thou persona, which I understand grates on some.
And Clarkesworld is also worth the time. My only wish there is that Kate Baker would hire another reader now and then rather than narrating everything herself. Her monotonic delivery is exactly right on for some stories, death for others.
Will be very glad to have Escapepod back again!
posted by dust of the stars at 10:15 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
As for other podcasts, I am warming to the Drabblecast, despite Norm Sherman's wittier-than-thou persona, which I understand grates on some.
And Clarkesworld is also worth the time. My only wish there is that Kate Baker would hire another reader now and then rather than narrating everything herself. Her monotonic delivery is exactly right on for some stories, death for others.
Will be very glad to have Escapepod back again!
posted by dust of the stars at 10:15 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Tony actually had a great thing going in his spin-off Sofanauts podcast, but he went and dropped that. Possibly some of it's flavbour has been picked up by Santitorium, the spin-off podcast that's an extra for people who have donated to SSS. I've been avoiding that though, as I've always had an idea that it's where all the dog-walking waffle ended up.
(I probably blather on about SSS on Mefi far too much, but that's because I really like it and think it's good, waffle or no waffle)
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
(I probably blather on about SSS on Mefi far too much, but that's because I really like it and think it's good, waffle or no waffle)
posted by Artw at 10:53 AM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
That said, I do wish he'd discover the magic of inserting chapter points into a podcast, thus enabling the forward button for those who want to skip to the best bits.
That's been brought up in their forums, and while I don't believe Tony has weighed in I suspect the problem may be technical. SSS is in MP3, which is the most widely supported format. While there *is* now a way to add chapter markers to MP3s, last I heard very few players supported it (even including the ones that do AAC chapters just fine.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:59 AM on May 10, 2010
That's been brought up in their forums, and while I don't believe Tony has weighed in I suspect the problem may be technical. SSS is in MP3, which is the most widely supported format. While there *is* now a way to add chapter markers to MP3s, last I heard very few players supported it (even including the ones that do AAC chapters just fine.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:59 AM on May 10, 2010
Mur's starting a new podcast at the UK small press Angry Robot... hope she's not taking too much on..
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:16 AM on May 25, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 6:16 AM on May 25, 2010
Tony actually had a great thing going in his spin-off Sofanauts podcast, but he went and dropped that.
It's back! The Peter Watts interview is well worth a listen, if nothing else.
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on May 26, 2010
It's back! The Peter Watts interview is well worth a listen, if nothing else.
posted by Artw at 7:09 AM on May 26, 2010
The Peter Watts interview is well worth a listen, if nothing else.
Well, yeah, that's the keeper. But the Cheryl Morgan one is worth a go too.
Even better, they're adding a feed with chapter marks. (link to the announcement page, since they're still sorting it out apparently.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:42 AM on May 26, 2010
Well, yeah, that's the keeper. But the Cheryl Morgan one is worth a go too.
Even better, they're adding a feed with chapter marks. (link to the announcement page, since they're still sorting it out apparently.)
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:42 AM on May 26, 2010
I did actually post a link to that in the Nebula/Kij Johnson thread.
I was tempted to FPP the Peter Watts one, but it doesn't really add much to the closed thread and the open Meta follow-up.
posted by Artw at 11:14 AM on May 26, 2010
I was tempted to FPP the Peter Watts one, but it doesn't really add much to the closed thread and the open Meta follow-up.
posted by Artw at 11:14 AM on May 26, 2010
(also TBH it would mostly result in people making the usual arguments without listening to the thing - a general problem with audio/video on anything contentious)
posted by Artw at 11:15 AM on May 26, 2010
posted by Artw at 11:15 AM on May 26, 2010
Apparently the Tor podcast is now officially dead... so that kinda even outs for Mur.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:42 AM on May 26, 2010
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 11:42 AM on May 26, 2010
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